Do Students learn values from reading tests in history classes? student perceptions about values education in history classes (sample of Trabzon)

Öğrenciler tarih derslerinde okudukları metinlerden değer öğrenir mi? tarih derslerinde değer eğitimine yönelik öğrenci görüşleri

Abstract

Because of their effect on our attitudes, beliefs and all kinds of our behaviour, values have an important place in human life. Therefore value education (moral education) is one of the basic elements for educating and transforming generations and society. There are many researches which have focused on values and values education in such areas like management, organizational behaviour, social psychology, ethics and education. Studies on value education have indicated that an improved value education system needs a training strategy and trained teachers about the methods of value education for enhanced value education in schools.History teaching contributes to value education as well as civic education and skills training in Turkey. History classes have the ability to teach values which come under classifications such as individual, social, intellectual, cultural, political, professional, moral, national and universal. Students can learn about societies with their culture and values in history lessons and have the opportunity for understanding the formation process and changes in values.The purpose of this study is to understand if students are aware of the values and find out what students have learned about values in history classes. The study is based on student perceptions. Two short texts were given to students for attracting their attention to values. The titles of these texts were "The Conquest of Istanbul" and "Ataturk's Words About Science." These were prepared in accordance with the opinion of a specialist working on leaching history, and two history teachers. The texts contain some values which are frequently encountered by students in history lessons, and emphasises tolerance, justice, diligence and the importance of science. The language of these texts is short and straightforward for an average high school student.The study is a qualitative study and was carried out in Trabzon. A structured questionnaire which consists of five open-ended questions was used in this study. A limited sample of work was used and applied in Trabzon High School during the spring term of 2010-2011 academic calendars. The study was applied in three classes and 66 of 78 students in these classrooms contributed to this work voluntarily. The application had two parts, -reading the texts and answering the questions- and took 15-20 minutes.As a result, all the students attempted to identify the values reflected in the texts. In addition, students could find lots of other values through interpretation. This case shows that students can grasp values easily if someone asks them direct questions about values. Students reported that they learned the values by reading, listening to the teacher, discussing and interpreting the knowledge which they gained in history lessons. Eventually, students were aware of die values included in the instructional programmes of social studies in elementary and history high school. Students could notice values but they could not define what the values are. Although some students identified values correctly, many of them became confused about custom and traditions and could not describe the values. Some students identified the values wrongly as positive features coming from the past. In light of this information, we can suggest that history teachers should use historical texts which include a moral dimension and ask questions that directly link to values. Teachers should emphasise values when they use these kinds of texts. History textbooks should be enriched with texts that address values directly for a better understanding of values and their impact on social life and the community.

Özet

Değerler tutumlarımıza, inançlarımıza ve her türlü davranışımıza etki eden unsurlar olarak insan hayatında önemli bir yere sahiptir. Kültür aktarımı ve sosyal değişim, değerler üzerinde yaşanan devamlılık ve değişikliklerle ilgili olduğundan toplumu eğitmenin ya da değiştirmenin temel unsurlarından biri de değerlerdir. Bu çalışmanın amacı lise tarih derslerinde öğrencilerin ne tür değerler öğrenebildiklerini yapılan bir uygulamaya dayalı olarak öğrenci görüşleri üzerinden ortaya koymaktır. Trabzon'da yapılan çalışmanın sonuçları sadece uygulamaya katılan öğrencileri kapsayıcı olup genellemelere gidilmemiştir. Trabzon Fen Lisesi'nde her şubeden 26 mevcutlu birer sınıfta (9,10 ve 11. Sınıflar) yapılan çalışma, nitel bir çalışma olup yapılan uygulamada öğrencilerin değerlere odaklanmaları için 'İstanbul'un fethi ve gayrimüslimler' ve 'Atatürk'ün bilimle ilgili sözleri' başlıklı kısa metinler kullanılmıştır. Öğrenciler, metinleri okuduktan sonra değerler ve değerlerin nasıl öğrenildiğine ilişkin sorulan yazılı olarak cevaplandırmışlardır. Yapılan uygulama sonucunda öğrencilerin değereri tanımlamakta zorlandıkları, tarih derslerinde birçok konuda farklı değerlere değinildiğini tespit ettikleri, değer aktarımı için özel vurgulamalar yapılmayıp değerlerin dersin doğal akışı içinde öğrenildiği, değerler sınıflamaları açısından değer ifadesinin öğrencilerde daha çok milli ve dini değerleri çağrıştırdığı sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır.